Driveway find, NOT what you might think.

wettpaint

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2009
44
1
North Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Whites MXT
Just to let you know that you don't have to go very far to find the good stuff, at least that is what my wife is saying now.

My son, who will be 3 in July, wanted to go tecting this Sunday, so I thought that we would mess around in the yard for a little while.

There used to be a home place between my house and the road. I say "used to be" because when we built our place we cut the hill down around 5' and scattered the dirt over 3 acres.

Like I said my 2 yr old and I were working our way across the yard, a place we have hunted many times. Nothing notable mostly nails and other odd iron signals. I dig a plug and let him pick through it until he pulls out the find. Boy does he get excited for whatever he comes up with. Well this time we were crossing our gravel drive way and I get a 74 VDI on the MXT. Here I go hacking through the gravel. My drive is what we call “reclaimed concrete” it is mixture of what is dropped or leftover at the concrete plant from a concrete batch before the water is added. It has a lot of gravel, sand and cement. Needless to say it is quite hard. So here I go still hacking with my Fiskar garden knife trying to loosen it up enough for little man to come and dig up some “monies”. I cannot pinpoint it well, but the MXT keeps showing as a penny. Now time for the big guns, I go after the spade or “sharp shooter” whatever you want to call it. I start to ream out a pretty good hole, gravel is flying everywhere. I am going to find that penny before it is over with, there might not be anything left but little man is getting that penny. I get the hole pretty good size now, hit is again with the MXT and get an overload, What the heck??? An over for a penny, maybe a piece of copper pipe from the house during construction.

Getting discourage from the hacking and not finding that stinking penny or piece of pipe I stick the Fiskar in one more time and hit something metallic. I kind of poke it a time or two trying to find the edge so I can pry it out. And up pops this beauty. Boy was I surprised.
I put a small scratch on the back and nicked the edge when I pried it out of the drive but other than that it is in good condition.

It is amazing that I did not destroy in after moving all the dirt with a tractor and box blade and an old Cat D6 dozer, shaping my driveway twice adding gravel and other material both times. I have lived in this house for 5 years and never thought that my CS buckle was literally under my feet each time I walked to the mail box or drove to work.

Happy Hunting
Wettpaint
 

Attachments

  • IMAG0135.jpg
    IMAG0135.jpg
    42.3 KB · Views: 4,360
  • IMAG0136.jpg
    IMAG0136.jpg
    45.1 KB · Views: 4,352
  • IMAG0137.jpg
    IMAG0137.jpg
    62.2 KB · Views: 4,353
  • IMAG0139.jpg
    IMAG0139.jpg
    47.1 KB · Views: 4,341
  • IMAG0141 small.jpg
    IMAG0141 small.jpg
    36.4 KB · Views: 4,328
Upvote 0

{Sentinel}

Silver Member
Jan 11, 2007
4,739
286
Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
13
Detector(s) used
TEKNETICS T-2 LTD, Fisher F-75, White's MXT w/ 11 x 14" Excelerator Coil, WHITES Pulse TDI, WHITES Beach Hunter ID, Garrett Propointer and Lesche Digging Tool
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
YOU'VE DONE IT! This is the "Holy Grail"! This is what us Civil War Relic hunters go out hoping to find everyday. You will probably never top this find and an unbelievable piece of history. I cannot give you enough props for not destroying that plate trying to dig through the concrete/gravel driveway......Just a TERRIFIC find and the FIND of finds in mine and MANY others' books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :wav: :wav: :wav: BANNER all the WAY!

P.S.- Can you take some photos of the back of the plate? Would love to see the plate in its entirety :icon_thumleft:
 

armchairQB30

Sr. Member
Jun 21, 2007
283
7
Hey Wetpaint.

Click on this http://www.nps.gov/tupe/index.htm I have a feeling that your land could have been a campsite or small skirmish site leading up to the battle of Tupelo. I know for sure that the Yankees were camped there before turning east to Tupelo. Look at the map on the above link showing your city. It clearly shows Yankees coming right through your town. How many miles are you from Tupelo?

Arm
 

armchairQB30

Sr. Member
Jun 21, 2007
283
7
Wetpaint,

I have confirmed that a small skirmish took place in Pontotoc, MS. This battle was all about protecting Shermans supply lines while he moved south to Atlanta. I am pretty sure the battle of Tupelo started in Pontotoc, MS. You will now need to find battlefield accounts and maps of the action at the Ohio State University archives of the civil war or buy a military atlas of the civil war and review the maps. The trick is to compare old civil war maps to modern topo maps overlaid on each other. Then you simply locate where your property is. I have a feeling that all of the information you seek could be at the Tupelo National Battlefield. I would also hook up with a researcher there to help you.

One of the ways that a group of guys located the old Fort King Highway in Florida built in 1826 for military use was to review aerial photographs from 1938 to 1945. Yes it was still there from Tampa to Ocala and could be seen on the photos. I do see some roads that might have been civil war roads 278? 78? Roads going to Tupelo from Pontotoc? Are you near any old railroad tracks?

They kept very good records of maps during the civil war and sometimes they kept map records hourly. The Ohio State University records are set up with both Yankee and Conf accounts of each battle. You should be able to trace the troop movements daily. Good luck.
 

DirtyMike

Hero Member
Feb 10, 2009
898
105
West Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Teknetics T2, MXT, TDI, Tejon, AT Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
{Sentinel} said:
YOU'VE DONE IT! This is the "Holy Grail"! This is what us Civil War Relic hunters go out hoping to find everyday. You will probably never top this find and an unbelievable piece of history. I cannot give you enough props for not destroying that plate trying to dig through the concrete/gravel driveway......Just a TERRIFIC find and the FIND of finds in mine and MANY others' books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :wav: :wav: :wav: BANNER all the WAY!

P.S.- Can you take some photos of the back of the plate? Would love to see the plate in its entirety :icon_thumleft:

Ditto! Could not say it better myself.
 

Marc in VA

Jr. Member
Jun 27, 2003
69
170
Stafford, VA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab GPX 4500, Minelab Equinox 800, 3 Minelab XS Explorers
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Wow!!!! congratulations on finding one heck of a confederate plate!!!!!!!!!
 

MaineRelic

Bronze Member
Mar 9, 2008
2,220
904
MAINE
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Tesorso's, Minelabs, Garrett's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Congrads on a BANNER FIND ! A super belt plate ! MaineRelic
 

WIDirtFishing

Sr. Member
Apr 29, 2010
322
129
Twin Cities, MN
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 800

Past:
Tesoro Tiger Shark
Tesoro Silver uMax
AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
That is awesome. Right from under your feet. Awesome dig

Hunt On!
 

OP
OP
wettpaint

wettpaint

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2009
44
1
North Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Whites MXT
It is an Honor to make the banner. Thank you everyone for your support.

For those who have asked here is a pic of the back of the plate.

I guess I will have to do more hunting to try to top this. I hope my wife understands.

Wettpaint
 

Attachments

  • IMAG0144.jpg
    IMAG0144.jpg
    44.2 KB · Views: 2,382

Tnmountains

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 27, 2009
18,716
11,709
South East Tennessee on Ga, Ala line
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Conquistador freq shift
Fisher F75
Garrett AT-Pro
Garet carrot
Neodymium magnets
5' Probe
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That is just a great story and terrific find. Its a beauty for sure. Congratulations on your find sir.
Happy Huntn
TnMtns
 

Breezie

Gold Member
Oct 3, 2009
6,269
2,119
North Carolina
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
White's DFX & Spectrum~Garrett's Pro-Pointer~VibraProbe
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
OMG that is a fantastic find and a wonderful story! My major MD goal is a CS or CSA plate, and you found one in your own yard. Outstanding! I'd grid it out, and do the entire yard inch by inch; I bet there is more there. Congratulations, Breezie
 

Dano Sverige

Silver Member
Aug 10, 2009
2,946
189
SWEDEN
Detector(s) used
(on the dry)Minelab ETRAC, backup x-terra 305.(in the wet ) Minelab Excalibur II
Congrats on the banner,well deserved. :headbang:

(Are you ignoring Armchairqb30 on purpose or talking private? He seems to be doing a lot of work to help.)
 

OP
OP
wettpaint

wettpaint

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2009
44
1
North Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Whites MXT
Dano Sverige said:
Congrats on the banner,well deserved. :headbang:

(Are you ignoring Armchairqb30 on purpose or talking private? He seems to be doing a lot of work to help.)

I sent him a PM, You know you don't want all your stuff out there for everyone to see.
 

kyphote

Hero Member
Jan 12, 2010
583
52
Virginia
Detector(s) used
White's MXT, GPX 4800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
$3k - 4k is conservative. These things rarely come around. There's bound to be more good stuff on your property. Let us know what else you find. Congratulations!
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top